Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide

Although not quite a thousand, there are more than a hundred flavors of natural ice creams and sorbets at this shop near the Jardim Botânico. Mil Frutas makes its frozen desserts by hand, when fruits like the tropical jungle cupuaçu and berries from the açaí palm are in-season.

What to Expect: Majestic granite peaks jut from a jungle-covered range to create a spectacular backdrop for this mile-long, 300-foot-deep white-sand beach, which is covered in brightly colored umbrellas year-round.

Brazil's most venerable chocolatier (founded in 1894) is hidden on a narrow street in chaotic Centro. The sweets, coffees, and tropical marmalades come in hand-painted packages, and the soaring frescoed ceilings seem lifted from a Viennese fantasy.

Atop one of the city's highest peaks, the world-renowned statue of Christ the Redeemer gives way to 360-degree views. Take the 123-year-old Corcovado train to the summit, or better, hire a taxi and ride the twisting road through the Tijuca rain forest. Halfway up, stop and listen.

The Marina All Suites Hotel bar is a Technicolor pastiche of ice-blue and orange walls and Jetsons-style bar stools—all occupied by tall, tan, lean, and lovely locals. Try the bar's signature caipiroska, a caipirinha that substitutes vodka for cachaça.

This Oscar Niemeyer-designed theater holds 400 as part of an eight-building cultural complex overlooking Guanabara Bay and Rio. The complex will include a new ferry terminal, Museum of Brazilian Cinema, and - fittingly - the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation.

Nightclub?Bar?Furniture warehouse?It defies description, but if you go to only one place, check out Rio Scenarium—two adjacent three-story buildings full of multiple dance floors, lounge areas, cocktail stations, and, yes, antiques (the club moonlights as a furniture-rental house for TV and film